The event was a kick off for the new Mr Sid magazine as well as fund raiser for the Lt Walsh/ FF Kennedy fund. 9 Newton Firefighters participated in the show. Raffles were drawn and a certain percentage of the sales that took place Thursday night through Sunday were donated to the fund that was set for the two Boston Firefighters that were lost battling a 9 alarm fire in the back bay.

The Newton Firefighter's Association and the Newton Fire Department would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to the families of Firefighter Michael R. Kennedy of Ladder 15, and Lieutenant Edward J. Walsh of Engine 33, The Boston Fire Department, and IAFF Local 718.

We will carry on -Boston Strong- in the name of our brothers and sisters who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the effort to save others.

We ask that you please keep the families of the fallen in your thoughts and prayers in their time of great sorrow.

On February 1st, members of Local 863 competed in an event to raise money and awareness for the American Lung Association. Exceeding their team goal and achieving over $1500 in fundraising for the cause were members of Engine 3 and Ladder 2.

This stair climb consists of a "vertical road race" up 42 floors wearing full bunker gear, adding an additional 80 lbs. onto the participants. Participants travel from all over the country to take part in this event, and our members did a great job of representing. FF Tim Killilea of Engine 3 set the record for our local, with a time of 10:09, great job Tim!

The event takes place on the first Saturday of every February, and members are encouraged to participate. There is no pledge too little or too large, and the comradery is unmatched. Contact Phil McCully at Station 3, Group 2 for more details on how to participate for next year.

On April 21st, members and supporters of Local 863 will be participating in the 118th Boston Marathon. They have pledged to raise money for the Newton Firefighter's Children's Fund, a charity devoted to supporting the children of Newton Firefighters who have recently fallen. To donate to their cause, visit their website at http://www.firstgiving.com/384143.

Updated 2:36 p.m.: The cause of an early-morning fatal fire in Newton Centre is still under investigation Monday afternoon.

The identity of the elderly woman who was found dead in the burned-out house has still not been confirmed. Dep. Chief Gino Lucchetti said according to the woman's neighbors, she lived alone and was physically incapacitated.

According to the assessors database on the Newton city website, the single-family home at 39 Cottonwood Road is owned by a Phyllis Bennett. The fiscal 2011 value of the home was $604,900. The database also lists the Newton Centre home as being built in 1955.

A call reporting a fire with people trapped inside came in about 3:20 a.m., according to scanner reports. Patch correspondent Stephen Walsh, who was on the scene, reported severe fire conditions, including an electrical transformer explosion on arcing wires on the side wall of the single-family house.

A fire led to the evacuation of a Commonwealth Ave. apartment complex and several people taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation on June 14.

An apartment on the third floor of 2310 Commonwealth Ave. caught fire at about 7:45 p.m., according to Chief Joe LaCroix. He was on his way home when he heard the call and was the first person at the scene.

He helped people in the apartment escape the heavy smoke, but four were taken to Newton Wellesley Hospital for smoke inhalation and the entire 18-unit building had to be evacuated.

The fire could have been much worse, LaCroix said.

“It was fast-moving but the guys did a great job of knocking it down,” he said. “If it had gotten into the attic, we would’ve lost the whole building.”

Adrianne Kolpak, who lives on the other corner of the building, said she had just gotten home from work when she heard fire alarms. When she went onto the porch to look, a police officer grabbed her arm and told her to get away from the building. But she could see the danger herself.

“You could see flames and black smoke,” Kolpak said. “The firefighters broke through the bedroom window with their ladder and you could see smoke billowing out.”

Bing Liu, who lives on the opposite side of the building from the apartment that caught fire, didn’t pay much attention to initial alarms.

“The fire alarm went off and I thought it was a joke because it happens so many times,” he said.

Weston firefighters assisted Newton in extinguishing the blaze. The cause of the fire is still being investigated, but LaCroix suspected an electrical overload.

“In the corner [where the fire started], there was a plug-in powerstrip melted right to the floor,” he said.

A Waltham Police officer who was about to turn around as he neared the Newton line was in the right place at the right time to likely save the lives of five residents unknowingly sleeping through a house fire.

“They’re all lucky to be alive,” said Heather MacDonald, whose mother Jean and sister Megan lived in the house that was gutted by the blaze on May 29. “If he hadn’t seen it, they all probably wouldn’t have made it out.”

Officer Tony Scicholne was on Derby Street at about 5:30 a.m., when he spotted a porch fire. He called in dispatch, then contacted the Newton Fire Department.

While waiting, Scicholne got all the residents out just before one side of the house erupted into flames. Megan MacDonald wasn’t home at the time, but Heather MacDonald said her mother, a heavy sleeper, was woken by the pounding on her door.

“She called me and said ‘My house is on fire!’” recalled MacDonald, a Newton resident. “I said ‘Get out! I’m on my way!’”

Jean MacDonald made it out with her purse, coat, pajamas and nothing else, Heather said. Firefighters managed to rescue two cats from the second floor, but the top floor, where Jean lived, was totally burned.

The fire spread quickly, Heather MacDonald said.

“By the time my mother got to the corner, the whole side of the house was engulfed, but when she first looked at it, it was just the porch,” MacDonald said. “She turned around and the whole side was up, it just blew through the entire house.”

The fire quickly went to three alarms, with Waltham sending engines and Brookline, Needham, Watertown and Wellesley providing station coverage, according to Newton Fire Chief Joseph LaCroix. No firefighters were injured in the blaze.

LaCroix said several propane tanks and two five-gallon jugs of gasoline were under the porch when the fire started. While the tanks did not explode, a few had loose valves and the flammable gas fed the fire, he said.

Fire department investigators are still determining the fire’s cause, but LaCroix said they were leaning toward careless disposal of a cigarette.

MacDonald said her mother and sister are living with her for the time being. She praised Mayor Setti Warren’s office for assisting the victims and landlord/owner Fred Camerato for going “above and beyond.” The house was Camerato’s childhood home, MacDonald said, so the fire is a personal loss for him as well.

But MacDonald was most concerned for her mother.

“She’s going to walk out of this apartment with nothing, you lose everything in a fire like this,” MacDonald said. “Just watching all her stuff go up … it’s very sad.”

Late on May 5th, Newton Engine 7 was on their way back to Station 7 from covering Station 2. En route they saw and smelled smoke in the area, after doing a walk through of the neighborhood they came across what ended up being a 3-alarm fire that summoned all of Newton's firefighters. Crews worked until late Wednesday morning to extinguish the blaze. Two of our members were injured battling the fire, they are both expected to make full recoveries. The fire was in a vacant multimillion dollar home undergoing renovations.

By Dan Atkinson/Staff Writer
Wicked Local Newton
Newton —
One woman, two birds and several dogs and cats escaped a fire at a Newtonville Avenue home Tuesday evening, but several cats are still missing.
Firefighters responded to 393 Newtonville Ave. at about 6 p.m. after homeowner Melanie Ross reported a fire in her basement

By Dan Atkinson/Staff Writer
Wicked Local Newton
Newton —
Firefighters rescued a dog from a Walnut Street home Monday morning after an accidental single-alarm fire heavily damaged a third-story apartment. No one was injured in the blaze.
Firefighters responded to 160 Walnut St. at 8:22 a.m. for reports of a fire in the house’s upper apartment

A fire broke out on the second floor of the Newton Highlands home Tuesday night Jan. 20, causing heavy damage. According to neighbors and police, the owners, Nadine and Richard Lindzen, were not home at the time.

Neil Dahlberg was in his house down the street shortly after 7 p.m. when he saw flames shooting up from 301 Lake Ave.

“I was running down the street yelling fire,” he said. “I broke the window and went right up to the room – twice – to make sure nobody was in there.

“There wasn’t a smoke detector in the whole house going off,” he added.

A three-alarm fire heavily damaged a Woodward Street home New Year's Day, injuring seven firefighters. No residents were hurt.

Fire companies from Newton and Waltham responded to a single-family home at 448 Woodward St. in Waban at about 9:20 a.m. Thursday. According to police reports, the homeowner woke up to smoke detectors going off and discovered heavy smoke throughout the house. He went to the basement and saw flames and smoke, and the fire appeared to have spread up through the walls on the first and second floors and into the attic. According to police reports, 20 people were in the house at the time of the fire, but all made it out of the house and were sheltered by neighbors.

Firefighters were hampered by single digit temperatures, blowing snow, and icy conditions. Seven firefighters were treated for injuries ranging from back problems to smoke inhalation, according to union president Tom Lopez, and five did not return to work Friday.

The house's windows were boarded with plywood Friday morning as residents removed possessions from inside and loaded up a minivan. Police reports said the house "appears to be a total loss."